Megalonyx

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Megalonyx
Megalonyx wheatleyi

Megalonyx wheatleyi

Temporal occurrence
Middle Pliocene to Late Pleistocene
10.3 million years to 11,000 years
Locations
Systematics
Sub-articulated animals (Xenarthra)
Tooth arms (pilosa)
Sloths (folivora)
Megatherioidea
Megalonychidae
Megalonyx
Scientific name
Megalonyx
Harlan , 1825

Megalonyx was a giant sloth in the Megalonychidae family. The genus livedin North Americaduring the Pliocene and Pleistocene and only became extinct about 11,000 years ago.

Distribution and way of life

Megalonyx first appeared in North America about 3 million years ago in the Pliocene . Several species have been described, but it is now believed that only three of them are legitimate. The early species M. leptostomus was still quite small and developed into M. wheatleyi . From this the largest species developed, the Jefferson ground sloth M. jeffersonii , which survived until the late Pleistocene. Megalonyx jeffersonii was named after the 3rd President of the United States and inhabited the eastern two-thirds of the United States, as well as the Pacific western part of North America. Inland it reached from the Pacific from Idaho and northern Alaska . It pushed the furthest north of all species of sloth. It probably originated around 150,000 years ago and died out 11,000 years ago around the same time as the other giant sloths and several other large mammals from North America.

Megalonyx was a leaf eater and, according to its range, mainly inhabited forests and parklands.

Appearance

Megalonyx was slightly larger than Paramylodon and significantly larger than Nothroteriops , both of which live in North America at the same time. At 2.5 to 3 m, Megalonyx jeffersonii was about the size of an ox and was therefore one of the medium-sized sloths. The earlier species M. leptostomus and M. wheatleyi were both smaller. This sloth stepped on its entire soles with its hind legs, while it bent its front claws to the side in the manner of the other giant sloths and ran on its knuckles. Today the anteater still moves in a very similar way.

Discovery story

The first remains were found in what is now Kentucky as early as 1796 ; the later US President Thomas Jefferson described the find in a letter to the American Philosophical Society . He later instructed the participants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition , which explored the American West from 1804 to 1806, to keep an eye out for these animals because it was suspected that they might still be alive. In 1822 the species received its scientific name in honor of the US president.

literature

  • Paul S. Martin , Richard G. Klein (Eds.): Quaternary Extinctions. A Prehistoric Revolution. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson AZ 1984, ISBN 0-8165-1100-4 .
  • Arno Hermann Müller : Textbook of paleozoology. Volume 3: Vertebrates. Part 3: Mammalia. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Fischer, Jena 1989, ISBN 3-334-00223-3 .
  • Ian M. Lange: Ice Age Mammals of North America. A guide to the big, the hairy, and the bizarre. Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula MT 2002, ISBN 0-87842-403-2 .

Web links

Commons : Megalonyx  - collection of images, videos and audio files